Apologizing for Historical Injustices

An apology is supposed to be given by a wrongdoer to those he or she wronged. When wrongs are historical, wrongdoers and victims are no longer in existence. How then is an apology possible? What meaning can it have? I defend the view that many apologies for historical injustices can, and should be, understood as an admission of guilt and expression of regret by a representative of the perpetrating agent to those collectives and their representatives who are victims of its wrongs, or to those who represent deceased individuals who were wronged by the injustice

Criminology · Epistemology · Expression (computer science) · Injustice · Meaning (existential) · Political science · Regret · Sociology · Computer Science · Forgiveness and Related Behaviors · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Torture, Ethics, and Law · War, Ethics, and Justification